Selling Medical Treatment Records: Booming Business?
Date: Tuesday August 5, 2008Posted in: Business, Civil Liberties, Health, Legal, Legislation, Media
Tagged: Department of Health and Human Services, Electronic Health Records, Federal Trade Commission, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, Insurance, United States
A recent Washington Post article suggests that health and life insurers are scouring medical records in evaluating potential new clients. These reports, akin to “credit reports,” will hold the prescription information for more than 200 million American citizens. While the industry has yet to take off, it is expected to in the coming age of electronic medical records.
In the past, insurers would query the patient’s past medical records from individual physicians the patient has had contact with; soon insurers will contact a third party data-mining company which has pre-compiled records on many Americans. While the practice is promised to streamline the costs of health care, privacy advocates have their doubts. Insurers are optimistic about the technologies citing older methods of obtaining records more costly (hundreds of dollars per query) and time consuming and they may soon be able to quickly provide decisions within the same day or even on the spot for about fifteen dollars.
Advocates cite that many consumers must sign the form allowing insurers to release this information if they want health insurance, a big no-no privacy advocates state. It effectively says “You must allow us to disperse your medical records in order to receive coverage.” Unfortunately federal legislation does not protect the privacy of these consumers if they have signed a release form allowing the insurers to release their records.
Urge Congress to Ensure Patient Privacy
Date: Thursday November 8, 2007Posted in: Advocacy, Civil Liberties, Health, Legislation, Media
Tagged: Electronic Health Records, Health Information Privacy and Security Act, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, Patrick Leahy, United States Congress
Three fourths of the American public want Congress to ensure that our right to health privacy is protected in electronic systems and that electronic health databases and systems are truly secure . Americans have no Federal statutory right to health privacy today.
Despite the good intentions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and its “Privacy Rule”, the current regulations leave all Americans’ personal health information completely vulnerable and exposed. State laws, common laws and the Constitution are there for protection. Yet the HIPAA “Privacy Rule” is really a “Disclosure Rule” that authorizes more than 4 million entities to use and disclose an individual’s health information. This disclosure is without the individual’s consent and over their objections.
